Wow, what a piece of crap. Normally I try to be charitable to the classic films I'm watching for the Reeling Backward column, seeking out movies I think I'll enjoy or find interesting on some level In the case of "633 Squadron," a 1964 WWII movie starring Cliff Robertson as the leader of a British air squadron, the only thing interesting is how gobsmackingly awful it is. I lay most of the blame at the feet of director Walter Grauman, a television guy who made a few theatrical films.

Today we’ve got another episode of Rom Coms Revisited: exploring the good/bad/ugly of early 2000s rom coms. This time, one of my personal faves. Loading... The basics: Debra Messing’s Kat Ellis hires Dermot Mulroney’s Nick Mercer to pose as her boyfriend and attend her sister’s wedding, paying him $6,000 in cash. I love Kat’s practicality here. She needs this to go well, so she hired a professional. And he’s definitely a professional.

A few weeks ago I took an in-depth look at the Denver Broncos’ 1997 uniforms, which remain the most radical uni redesign in NFL history. One of the readers who posted a comment on that article was Kevin Cearfoss, who asked if I could do a similar deep-dive treatment for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ “creamsicle” uniforms. I liked that idea, especially since the creamsicles are finally returning to the field this season as a throwback, so here we are.

The best conversations unravel new threads with every turn of phrase. You’re left with a tapestry, not of answers but of new possibilities. I had a feeling that a dialogue with Josh Schrei might weave that kind of tapestry, and I wasn’t disappointed. If you haven’t heard of his podcast The Emerald, I’d highly recommend it. It’s gained a dedicated following over the last few years, and is as much an endeavour in ‘mythic sensemaking’ as it is an artistic expression.

I can’t say that I have spent much time in department stores lately, if ever actually. But when I was a kid growing up in Queens, I used to love going to Alexander’s, a rather average, rambling department store that held many wonders for a small child. To be sure, this was not a fancy, shiny department store like Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf, or the late Bonwit Teller. Those, out on the Miracle Mile of Manhasset, were far too rich for our blood.